Adam Lambert is revisiting one of his hit songs nearly 15 years after its debut. The singer re-recorded ‘Whataya Want From Me’ from his first studio album ‘For Your Entertainment.’
Along with new vocals and an upbeat dance vibe, Lambert switched up some lyrics. Back when he first released the song, he was facing industry pressure.
In a new TikTok video Lambert shared, he explained how he decided to change the ‘it’ to ‘he’: Because people didn’t want ‘the gay guy do well.’ He said:
“‘Whataya Want From Me?’ which is my hit from 2010, has been a big part of my career. It was written originally by Pink and when she first wrote the song, it said, ‘He messed me up, need a second to breathe.’ That was the original lyric. [It had just come out], like the first single off of my first album where I got into some trouble performing it in sort of a sexually charged way, on the AMAs I kissed a guy, I got a big slap on the wrist. There were a lot of people that were looking for a reason to not let the gay guy do well.”
He explained the controversies it could have caused back in the day:
“There weren’t a lot of gay people, and contemporary pop music at the time, and when it came to recording the song they were like, ‘You know what? We should change ‘he’ to ‘it,’ so that we don’t give anybody who’s homophobic or fearful any reason to not give this song a chance.’ 15 years since that music history has changed so much, there’s been so much progress; a lot of queer people in the music now. I got to do this remix and I called up DJ White Shadow, who is amazing, and he was totally on to do it.”
He also explained the change he made in the song now that it’s more different today:
“So I went to the studio and as I was singing the chorus I went, ‘You know what? It’s 2024, times have changed. I think I should change the lyric back to ‘he.’ I think that’d be really cool.’ So I did. It’s called ‘The DJ White Shadow He-mix 2024.'”
A Kiss On-Stage Caused Controversy
At the 2009 American Music Awards, Adam Lambert caused a stir with a performance of his debut single, ‘For Your Entertainment.’ During the performance, he shared a kiss with his male keyboard player. This was his first appearance since coming second on American Idol.
The performance aired on ABC, and Lambert’s unplanned kiss ended up with complaints from viewers. As a result, ABC had to deal with the fallout. Even though Lambert was supposed to be on Good Morning America the next day, he ended up not being invited. Lambert mentioned in a recent interview that he didn’t know about these issues back then:
“I didn’t realize the industry side of it would get affected. I didn’t realize that people would get so turned off within the label and everything, and take a step back. That’s the part that surprised me.”
Though he faced criticism back then, he is aware everything is much more different today:
“That’s what’s changed, because look at what Lil Nas X has been doing. He’s been doing all the things and doing it so well. I absolutely love him. I think he’s brilliant.”
You can see Lambert’s video below.
@adamlambert Coming at Midnight! Whataya Want From Me- White Shadow HeMix ‘24 @W/S #whatayawantfromme #hemix
